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John Hall Wheelock
John Hall Wheelock (September 9, 1886 - March 22, 1978) was an American poet and editor. Life A descendant of Eleazar Wheelock (founder of Dartmouth College) and the son of William Efner Wheelock and Emily Charlotte Hall,Twentieth Century Authors, A biographical dictionary of modern literature (edited by Stanley J. Kunitz & Howard Haycraft). New York: H.W. Wilson, 1942. Twentieth Century Authors: First supplement (edited by Stanley J. Kunitz & Vineta Colby). New York: H.W. Wilson, 1955. Wheelock was born in Far Rockaway, New York, and brought up in the neighborhood now occupied by Rockefeller Center. He summered in a family home on Long Island's South Fork, which provided inspiration for much of his work. Wheelock's parents encouraged the reading and memorization of poetry, and told of the time when they had seen the great poet Walt Whitman, when John was a baby: :My father held me up on a ferryboat...and said: 'Do you see that man?' He turned my head... toward Whitman, who was standing in the bow of the boat, and he said, 'That is the great poet, Walt Whitman.' Apparently — as my father described it — I refused to look at him, and kept turning my head the other way. I have no memory of this great occasion, not being then equipped to receive the spirit of Walt Whitman, although I suppose for a moment his image was in my eyes.". Wheelock graduated in 1908 from Harvard University, where he was class poet. As a student, he was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Monthly, and published his earliest work, Verses by Two Undergraduates, anonymously with his friend Van Wyck Brooks during their freshman year. In 1910, he began work with Scribner's, and by 1947 had risen to the position of senior editor. During his career he worked with such distinguished authors as Thomas Wolfe and James Truslow Adams. He is noted for discovering poets May Swenson and James Dickey.|title=Biography of John Hall Wheelock (1886-1978), Wheelock Genealogy, March 22, 1978. Web, Feb. 14, 2019. Wheelock was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Poetry Society of America (Vice president, 1944-1946), National Institute of Arts and Letters (vice-president), and Academy of American Poets (chancellor, 1947-1971; honorary fellow, 1974-1978). He was an honorary consultant in American letters to the Library of Congress. In 1940, Wheelock married Phyllis E. DeKay, the daughter of poet and art critic Charles DeKay. Wheelock published 14 books of poetry. As an editor, he is noted for discovering young poets like May Swenson and James Dickey.http://www.wheelockgenealogy.com/wheelockweb/pages/jhallbio.htm Writing :"Certain things will start a poem in you. It could be something no more important than the sound a broken radiator makes in a room, the knocking of water against pipes, or a murmuring sound, a steady sound ... the sound of grasshoppers and cicadas in the autumn in the countryside.... These things will start the feeling of a poem, though the poet doesn’t know what’s coming or what it’s going to be.. Recognition Wheelock was co-winner of the 1962 Bollingen Prize. His other prizes and awards include membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a chancellorship of the Academy of American Poets.John Hall Wheelock 1886-1978, Poetry Foundation. Web, Dec. 30, 2012. His Collected Works were awarded the Golden Rose Award by the New England Poetry Society in 1936, as the most distinguished contribution to American poetry of that year. For Poems Old and New he received the Ridgely Torrence Memorial Award in 1956, and the Borestone Mountain Poetry Award in 1957. In 1965 he won the Signet Society Medal, Harvard University, for distinguished achievement in the arts. In 1972 he was awarded the Gold Medal by the Poetry Society of America for notable achievement in poetry. Publications Poetry *''Verses by Two Undergraduates'' (by Van Wyck Brooks and John Hall Wheelock). Cambridge, MA: privately publishe, 1905. * The Human Fantasy. Boston: Sherman, French, 1911. *''The Beloved Adventure. Boston: Sherman, French, 1912. *Love and Liberation: The songs of Adsched of Meru and other poems. Boston: Sherman, French, 1913. * ''Dust and Light. New York: Scribner, 1919. * The Black Panther: A book of poems. New York: Scribner, 1922. * The Bright Doom: A book of poems. New York: Scribner, 1927. * Collected Poems, 1911-1936. New York & London: Scribner, 1936. * Poems Old and New. New York: Scribner, 1956. * The Gardner, and other poems. New York: Scribner, 1961. * Dear Men and Women: New poems. New York: Scribner, 1966. * By Daylight and in Dream: New and collected poems, 1904-1970. New York: Scribner, 1970. * In Love and Song: Poems. New York: Scribner, 1971. *''Afternoon: Amagansett Beach''. New York: Dandelion Press, 1978. * This Blessed Earth: New and selected poems, 1927-1977. New York: Scribner, 1978. Non-fiction *''A Bibliography of Theodore Roosevelt. New York: Scribner, 1920. *''What is Poetry?. New York: Scribner, 1963. *''The Last Romantic: A poet among publishers: The oral autobiography'' (edited by Matthew Joseph Bruccoli & Judith S. Baughman). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2002. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:John Hall Wheelock, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 21, 2015. Audio / video *''The Poetry of John Hall Wheelock'' (cassette). New York: J. Norton, 1974. *''The essence of poetry : John Hall Wheelock defines poetry & the poetic experience'' (cassette). Tucson, AZ: Motivational Programming, 1969. Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat. See also *List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems * "Sunday Evening in the Common" *"Earth" *John Hall Wheelock in The New Poetry: An anthology: "Sunday Evening in the Common," "Spring," "Like Music," "The Thunder-Shower," "Song," "Alone," "Nirvana," "Triumph of the Singer" *John Hall Wheelock 1886-1978 at the Poetry Foundation. *Wheelock in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "Triumph of the Singer," "The Thunder-shower," "Song" (All my love for my sweet)], "Alone," "Song at Night," "Beethoven," "Holy Light," "The Moonlight Sonata," "The Sorrowful Masquerade," "In the Dark City" *Poems of John Hall Wheelock at Poets' Corner *John Hall Wheelock at PoemHunter (26 poems). ;Books * * A Bibliography of Theodore Roosevelt by John Hall Wheelock ;Audio / video *John Hall Wheelock at YouTube *A Conversation with John Hall Wheelock, from NBC ;About *John Hall Wheelock (1886-1978) at The Bollingen Prize *|title=Biography of John Hall Wheelock (1886-1978) at Wheelock Genealogy * Category:1886 births Category:1978 deaths Category:American poets Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:American editors